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Thursday, 4 June 2015

VK - A Thought Movement

|| योग: कर्मसु कौशलम् ||

Mananeeya Eknathji was a keen observer of the society. Therefore, while forming Vivekananda Kendra, he explained the need of the Kendra very succinctly in the printed pamphlets of Vivekananda Kendra of those days. It is the Second Phase of Vivekananda Rock Memorial Movement with its name -Vivekananda Kendra - established on 7th January, 1972 the 108th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. It is a non-monastic but spiritually inspired service-mission.

Eknathji says : "Our National Ethos - Longing for Mukti: People of our country are, by tradition, religion-minded and this country is therefore described as a land of religion and spirituality. Swami Vivekananda used to say that the soul of our country is in religion. The highest and the ultimate goal, or Purushartha, aspired for by the people of our country is Mukti, so much so that the traditional treatises dealing with the mundane arts and sciences, including those on Ayurveda and even statecraft, proclaim in their prefatory remarks, how the ultimate purpose behind them is to facilitate the progress of every human being towards the same spiritual goal - Moksha.

Present Paradoxical Position: "If going to temples, visiting places of pilgrimage, participating in Bhajans, Yajnas and Anusthanas as also listening to philosophical and religious discourses by millions of people, or the presence of numerous religious teachers, gurus and such other men of God all over the country are the manifestations of a growing religiosity, our country is, perhaps, more religious today than it ever was at any time in the past.

"But, unfortunately, the natural impact of this apparent Godwardness of the general society is little in evidence today. Purposeful living, discipline, character, truthfulness, fellow-feeling, fearlessness, subordination of the self and a zest for works of public good, which are some of the traits that develop in a Godward society and which, we have enough evidence to say, existed in good measure in our country in the past, are seen fast disappearing from our midst. Ironically enough, with the apparent religious fervour presently on the increase, general corruption, indiscipline and other kinds of moral degradation are also in the ascendant. How is this paradox to be explained? Certainly, it will not be reasonable to ascribe all these evils solely to inefficient governance of the country, because, after all, the people, especially in modern democracies, get the government they deserve. Distorted Conception of Religion, the Root Cause of Our Ills: "So, what is wrong with us and what is the way to save the country from the impending social disintegration that seems to be fast overtaking us? Any discerning mind will be able to see that a distorted conception of religion is the root cause of most of our ills for the last several centuries, which persist even today. It is rightly said that religion is the soul of our country. But, as that itself is blurred, we have the sorry spectacle of deterioration all round."